City agriculture gears up for dry season

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City Agriculture Department (CAD) is now gearing up for the possible impact of the dry season, taking into account what happened last year when the mountain barangays were placed under a state of calamity.

The newly installed CAD Head Arleigh Gesta said that last year's dry season, despite fund appropriations intended for assistance, faced delays in distribution. This year, he added, they have made sure to prioritize the distribution of water tanks and hoses for farmers in the upland areas to store enough water supply.

He said that this water supply will be sufficient to sustain their farms and livestock.

Gesta said that the distribution is now ongoing and is set to wrap up next week. Aside from these measures, Gesta said that the farmer associations have been organized to create their own water impounding systems to generate surface water from the creeks.

Further, Gesta said that they updated their profiling of farmers to ensure that each one of them will receive assistance from the City Government.

This is being initiated after they learned that last year, not all farmers received their assistance because only those registered under the Registry System of Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) were prioritized.

"Gi-update nato ang mga profiling sa atong mga farmers kay ang nahitabo man gud last year ang basis nato sa paghatag og assistance is kato ra gyung naa sa atoa nga registered farmer," said Gesta. "Bisag farmer sila pero wala nakabutang sa atong RSBSA, dili gyud sila mahatagan og enough nga assistance."

The profiling was conducted through a barangay-to-barangay scheme as the CAD targets all farmers in preparation for another possible dry spell this year.

With this profiling, at least 1,000 farmers have been identified and added to the list.

Gesta said they are also conducting a massive information campaign to educate farmers on cultivating seeds that are compatible with the heat season to avoid loss.

In light of these preparations, Gesta said they are fully prepared this year, having already distributed crops that are heat-resistant as early as now.

"So dili lang gyud ta magtanom atong dugay kaayo ma-harvest, kana lang gyud mga 30-45 days, at least dili gyud siya kaayo maigo sa kadaot sa init," said Gesta.

Last year, one of the heavily discussed issues by the Cebu City Council was the non-utilization of the budget intended for CAD despite the dire need during the El Niño phenomenon.

This year, Gesta said his office has lesser budget appropriation, which is only P32 million for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE), down from the P80 million appropriated last year.

Gesta said that last year's budget was not utilized because they weren’t able to secure a certificate of availability of funds, particularly for the capital outlay.

"Katong mga construction namo nga himoon unta, like the construction of water reservoirs and greenhouses—kay usa unta ni ka alternative nga makatabang sa atong mga farmers kung naa ka aning protective structure sa tanom, at least mamanage nimo maayo ang tanom ug dili pud siya kas og water," he said.

He said that on the side of the Bids and Awards Committee, they weren’t able to bid for these constructions due to time constraints.

"Last year naa unta silay inputs worth P7 million nga palitonon unta nga naabtan na gyud sa panahon pag-close sa budget. Sayang gyud siya," he further said.

Despite this, Gesta assured that they have enough budget to assist the farmers, noting that they are prioritizing direct assistance distribution. (CEBU NEWS)